the rest. And then Snowball remembered what
she had said to him. If a bear--instead of Uncle Jerry Chuck--lived in
the hole at the foot of the ledge!

Well, that thought was enough to make Snowball swerve sharply to his
right. And a few moments later he bobbed over the wall a little further
up the hillside.

Just beyond the wall grew a tangle of berry bushes. And into the midst
of them Snowball jumped. And out of the midst of them, right in front of
him, there rose up on his hind legs--a bear!

Snowball gave a frightened, frantic blat. The next instant he was
scrambling back over the wall.

The foremost of the oncoming flock of sheep saw him. They couldn't think
what had happened. Anyhow, they couldn't stop. Close behind them pressed
the flock, all bunched together and hurrying blindly on.

XVII

A TERRIBLE MIX-UP

There was a terrible mix-up. Some sheep were trying to cross the stone
wall in one direction. Some were trying to cross it in the other. And in
the midst of the fleecy tangle Snowball struggled in vain. He found
himself face to face with Aunt Nancy Ewe, who was so huge that he
couldn't budge her. He pushed and shoved until she cried out, "Where are
your manners, young man?"

"I--I don't know," Snowball stammered. "Maybe I left them in the berry
bushes, with the bear."

[Illustration: Snowball Gave A Frantic Blat.

_The Tale of Snowball Lamb._ _Page 87_]

Well, the moment she heard the word _bear_ Aunt Nancy blatted at the
top of her lungs. With a mighty heave she turned about on the top of the
wall, sweeping Snowball off it as if he were nothing but a fly.

He fell backwards among the raspberry bushes, fully expecting to be
eaten by the bear. He shut his eyes and held his breath, and lay with
his feet in the air, waiting for the bear to seize him.

"Oh, dear!" he groaned. "I wonder if he'll begin with my head or my
tail!"

Just then he felt a terrible nip at the end of his tail.

"He's begun! The bear has begun to eat me!" Snowball thought.

As for the bear, he didn't say a single word. And that seemed odd.
Somehow Snowball didn't quite like it because the bear didn't exclaim
how nice and tender he was. His tail was still held fast. And that was
as much as Snowball knew.

At last he slowly opened his eyes. To his astonishment he saw no bear.
In fact he saw nobody at all. For the last of Farmer Green's flock of
sheep had vanished. And Snowball noticed, resting on the tip of his
t